Bits and Pieces: NCISLA
by DARWIN51
Summary: A loose story I found in my scrap notes. Nell is injured on the job, and it's pretty serious.
1. Chapter 1

A/N My bits and pieces series is basically just half-finished stories or notes that I found when cleaning out my notebook. This one I especially loved but just couldn't finish. Each chapter is short, you've been forewarned. And they follow no particular order. Nell-centric. Enjoy.

"You know, slow and steady doesn't always win the race." Callen commented as he slowed his pace to match Nell's on their way up the stairs.  
"Very funny." She said back.  
"What are you even doing here? You're supposed to be at home, healing."  
"Yeah, but it's so boring at home. I just wanted to see how things were holding up here."  
"You may not know this, but we 'held things up' just fine for 2 years before you."  
"I don't see why I have to stay home, though. I feel fine."  
"Fine enough to walk faster?" Callen teased.  
"Well…" They were halfway up the stairs.

"What happened to Nell? I thought she was here earlier." Kensi asked the team in the bullpen.

"Hetty sent her home. Says she needs to heal completely before she even wants to see her face back here." Callen informed them.

"Well, I can see where Hetty's comin' from. That was pretty bad. She could have died." Sam said.

"She _did_ die. Twice." Kensi pointed out the technicalities.

"I mean the permanent kind. We can't lose another team member." Sam said.

They fell silent, thinking about Dom.

Next day

"You heard what happened, right?"  
"What? What happened with what?"  
"With Nell." Kensi said.  
"You mean aside from what already happened?" Deeks asked

The two entered OSP, where the rest of the team was waiting, including Hetty.

"I would like to inform you all that Miss Jones has recently been released from the hospital, _again, _because she ripped out her stitches. _Again._"

"Really? How? When?" Deeks asked.

"Wowwww. Good job." Sam muttered, laughing a little.

"Last night, with Mister Beal. Mister Beal, why don't you inform us about that?" Hetty said knowledgably.

"Uhh…well,we uh…yeah. Ya know. Uh." He tilted his head awkwardly and blushed. Deeks whistled. "Nice." Kensi slapped him.

Sam and Callen suppressed their laughter, then Sam turned serious. "Really? She gets stabbed, technically dies twice, gets 47 stitches, ripped them out once already, is completely drugged out on painkillers, and sex is at the top of your agenda? What made you think that would be a good idea?"

"It better have been worth it." Callen muttered under his breath.  
"Oh, it was." Eric smiled then made the mistake of looking over at Hetty and saw the look on her face. "Iiii should stop talking." He quickly turned away, blushing even harder.

"She's home safe now, but I suggest someone go check on her."

"I will" Eric volunteered.

"No, I will." Kensi said. "You've done enough…_damage_."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Excuse my gun sound effects, I read too many comic books. This one takes place before the first chapter

"Sam, he's heading west, go left." Eric instructed into the earpiece. Sam, in the abandoned hospital downtown, did as Eric instructed.

"No wait! There's another one coming up behind you!" Sam spun around. BLAM "Shit!"

PCHOO PCHOO Sam shot both guys. "Sam, REPORT!" Callen shouted into his earpiece as he moved through the hallways.

"He clipped my shoulder, no big." Sam pressed his hand to his arm, and it pulled away bloody.

"Nell, report!" Nell had joined this operation as part of the effort to hack the system of this terrorist organization.

Silence.

"Nell. REPORT."

"Fucken bastard…" Nell gasped into her earpiece.

"What happened?" Eric asked.

More silence.

"Sam, Callen, it's over, there's no more. Go to Nell. Walk forward, you'll find stairs. Go up 2 floors, and go down the hallway to your left, 3rd hallway on the right. She's there."  
Sam and Callen did as they were instructed, while Kensi and Eric watched the screen in OSP, seeing from the video camera on Sam's vest.  
"Nell, put on your camera." Kensi said. Eric flipped though the screens until he found camera 3's picture. After a moment, the screen got an image, but it was completely dark. It shuffled around a bit, then a light flicked on and it took a second to adjust, then another few seconds for Eric and Kensi to figure out what they were seeing.  
"Shit." Eric muttered when they realized they were looking into Nell's lap, where blood seeped though her fingers. Her hand clenched and unclenched in pain while she held her stomach.  
"Nell! Are you okay?" Eric shouted. He got static and some mumbling. "Nell!" He shouted louder "Are you okay?"  
Loud and clearly, Nell's voice came through. "No, dumbass."  
Somehow, Nell's response comforted him and he let out a breath. "Okay, look, Sam's coming to get you. Just stay put. Do you know where you are?"  
"I'm in a closet…North Wing…third floor." Nell said between gasps. The image on the screen shifted as Nell shone the camera around the room. "Mop…gloves…vacuum, it's a janitor's closet." She reported.  
"Thanks Nell, you're doing great. Now, is there anyone there, are you in danger? What happened to the guy who attacked you? Eric asked.  
"I got 'em." Nell replied.  
"That's my girl." Sam said to himself proudly. He and Callen reached the hallway she was in, and Sam checked a couple closets before finding the right one. "Nell! Alright, let's get you out of here." Sam's hands shook as he held Nell's shoulder, partially because he had just been shot in that arm, and partially because of the amount of blood on Nell. Sam took Nell under her arms and dragged her out of the closet. "Eric, what's the status?" Sam asked.  
"Ambulance is 4 minutes out." Eric informed them. "Nell, can you tell me what happened?"  
"Y'know, a bulletproof vest would've been nice." Nell said tiredly as her adrenaline was wearing off. She reached up and poked Sam's vest. All the vests they had were too big, except for Hetty's custom-made one, which was too small. Of course, they weren't sending her into the field unprotected. They had a different kind of vest that you strap around your chest, half sized. They used two of those, one around her chest and one around her stomach.  
"Nell, you _are_ wearing bulletproof straps. How'd he get you?" Sam asked.  
"stabbed me…between…" She replied, sort of drifting off to sleep. Sam ripped off the shirt Nell had over the straps, and she was right. Blood seeped out from between the two straps, right at the bottom of her ribcage.

A/N I don't mean to leave it at an awful poorly-written ending, that's just where I stopped. Review please. I might continue


	3. Chapter 3

A/N again I apologize if it's confusing. I really didn't want to add a third chapter because before this, the story had exactly 1,111 words! But I love you. Yes you. So here ya go, please accept this chapter as a token of my love.  
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters; I only borrow them for my amusement.

_PREVIOUSLY:_

"_stabbed me…between…" She replied, sort of drifting off to sleep. Sam ripped off the shirt Nell had over the straps, and she was right. Blood seeped out from between the two straps, right at the bottom of her ribcage. _

"Just hold on, the ambulance is on its way" But she was already out cold. Sam almost fell backwards. He couldn't ignore his own injury anymore. Dizzy and lightheaded, he pressed his left hand to his right shoulder, trying to slow the bleeding. His right hand was still pressing Nell's hand tight against her stomach. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the pressure on.

"Sam! Sam, where are you?" Callen shouted.  
"Here, G" Sam said loud enough to draw Callen in his direction.  
Callen saw Sam holding his shoulder, ready to fall over. He grabbed Sam's other shoulder and said "Hang in there, buddy." He looked down at Nell "Geez. Okay, Sam, you worry about yourself. I got Nell. He switched his hand out with Sam's to press tightly on Nell's abdomen. "Deeks is downstairs to direct the medics up here." Callen said, more to reassure himself than inform Sam.

Normally G could keep his cool on missions and in the field in general, but his voice quavered and he could feel his hands and knees shaking slightly. After all, it wasn't exactly _normal_ that he had the youngest and smallest member of his team unconscious and bleeding out in his hands. "_Hurry_" he muttered under his breath.

"It's been 4 minutes, where's the GODDAMN AMBULANCE?" Sam shouted in frustration. Callen didn't know what to say to reassure his friend, the ambulance should be here by now. But naturally, Callen kept his cool on the outside. "Sam, you and I both know getting worked up is only going to make things worse for you right now. Take some deep breaths. Eric and the medics are doing everything they can."

Sam knew Callen was right. He tried to slow down his breathing. Before he could even take two deep breaths, Deeks ran around the corner to them, followed by the paramedics. Callen could only step back and watch as they took over, helping Sam walk out and swarming around Nell. They messed around with some equipment that Callen couldn't recognize, and tons of gauze, for about 2 whole minutes before they loaded her small frame onto one of those boards. He wanted to tell them to be careful, he knew they were professionals, but she just looked so fragile and broken.

Callen took a step backwards and nearly tripped over something. For the first time, he noticed a body lying in the corner. It was so dark in the hallway, he wasn't surprised no one had seen it before. He checked for a pulse, but there was none. The person had a bullet wound in his face, that was likely the cause of death. There was a gun in his hand, and his wrist was broken. Callen pressed his earpiece and told Eric to send a coroner. Of course, that scared the hell out of Eric, but Callen quickly added that there were a few bodies of the terrorists, including the ones Sam had shot before. "But Nell's okay, right?" Eric asked. "Ah…" Callen looked around him. They had already taken Nell downstairs and she was probably on her way to the hospital by now. "They're doing everything they can, Eric. The ambulance already took her and they're gonna get her to the hospital soon, okay?" Before waiting for a response, he headed down the stairs and watched Sam getting into another ambulance. Callen and Deeks got into the car and followed the ambulance directly to the hospital.

By the time they got there, Kensi and Hetty had caught up with them, and joined them in the waiting room. While Callen was at the front desk trying to get some information on Nell's condition, a nurse insisted that he wash his hands off, because they were covered in blood. At first Callen resisted, determined to find out what was happening to his team member, but eventually he gave in and was led down the hall to wash off.

When he got back, Sam was sitting with Kensi and Deeks, a bandage wrapped around his arm. Kensi stood "What did they say?"  
"Nothing. They made me wash my hands." Callen said like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world, because compared to the situation they were currently in, clean hands was at the bottom of their priority list, right after the price of turnips in Moscow.

"Allow me to try, Mister Callen." Hetty stood up, which didn't make much difference in her height compared to when she was sitting, and calmly walked over to the front desk. 5 minutes later, she came back and reported, "Miss Jones is in surgery, they don't know when she will be getting out, but it won't be any time soon. There is still a lot of internal bleeding that needs to be taken care of, so I suggest to you not to get your hopes up." Hetty returned to her seat, leaving the team to mull that over. She decided to leave out the part about Nell's heart stopping in the ambulance, and they had to break out the defibrillator. She didn't want them to get their hopes up, but she also didn't want them to abandon all hope. She planned on telling them in a few hours, when everything had cooled off.

By the time they were all settled in the waiting room, it was 6:00 at night. Sam offered to go get some take-out, but Callen insisted he shouldn't be driving with his arm like that, plus the pain meds he was on, so Callen ended up going with him. Kensi and Deeks sat in the far corner, having a quiet conversation.  
"Did you see what happened?" Kensi asked.  
"No, I don't think anyone did. I was on the first floor, Callen was on the third floor, I think Sam was in the same wing with her but he said he only got there after." Deeks replied.  
"Do you even know what happened?" Kensi whispered, concerned.  
"From what I heard Sam telling Eric through my earpiece, she was stabbed, and I think she said she killed the guy who did it. But you heard that too, right? You were with Eric."  
"Yeah, I was wondering if you had anything more. Eric said there were a lot of security cameras in the building, but most of them were inactive."  
"Where _is_ Eric?" Deeks wondered.  
"He said he'd be here as soon as he could, he was really worried, but he got the information he needed to locate the base of the terrorist organization, and he's working on shutting down their computer system right now. You know. I guess America is a bigger priority than sitting around in a waiting room. Pshh." Kensi joked.  
Deeks snorted. "I guess he didn't get the memo about the free coffee here. I'm thinking about getting some."  
"Don't. It tastes like shit. By the way, I'm kind of worried about Sam, he doesn't look so good. When he gets back I think someone should tell him to go home and get some rest." Kensi said.  
"I'm with ya on that one. I'll offer to drive him home."

Sam and Callen returned with food, although no one really ate much. As promised, Deeks offered Sam a ride home, but of course Sam declined. "Maybe in a few hours."  
"Sam, nothing's going to change in a few hours. Go home now and get some rest, I'll call you as soon as something happens, okay?" Callen coaxed him.  
"No way." Sam leaned back further in his chair, making himself comfy. Everyone gave up and let him stay, and just like Callen had said, 7 hours later and still nothing had happened.

It was now 1:00 in the morning, and the waiting room was still just as busy. Deeks had donated some blood to Nell, since he was the only one who had the same blood type as her. After a while, Hetty went to the front desk again to see if there was any update on Nell's condition. When she returned, everyone looked at her, and upon seeing her expression, they all knew there was some news. Her face was expressionless, as usual, but her eyebrows furrowed, which meant something was happening, good or bad. The team sat up straight, expecting the best or the worst. Hetty didn't make them wait any longer "Miss Jones is out of surgery, but she's not out of the woods yet. She is in recovery and not allowed visitors for the foreseeable future. Mr. Hanna, I recommend you go home and get some rest, you've done your part, there's nothing more we can do at this point."

Sam sighed. "You're probably right."

Hetty narrowed her eyes and said with a smile "I'm always right, Mister Hanna."

Sam smiled for the first time all evening. "You need a ride?" Deeks offered again.  
"Not just yet, thanks Deeks."

The team went back to what they were doing, sending their silent prayers to Nell. After another 3 hours, Eric arrived, allowing them access to another car. Sam decided to take Hetty's advice, and asked Deeks if he would drive him home. Deeks said a short goodbye to Kensi, saying he would be right back, and left with Sam. Not even 10 minutes later, a doctor came out asking for the family of Nell Jones. Since they had been on an undercover mission, Sam and Callen had been using their aliases, but they didn't think Nell needed one. But it was still top-secret, so for all intents and purposes, Hetty was Nell's grandmother, and Nell's actual family was not to know about anything. "We're allowing 3 visitors at a time, but family only." The doctor said.  
"This is her brother, and these are her cousins. They are the only other family she has. Please lead them to her room, thank you." Hetty said politely, motioning to Callen, then Kensi and Eric. "Uh, right this way." The doctor replied, leading the trio down the hall and up an elevator, then down another two halls before stopping at a front desk. "You have to sign in." the woman at the front desk said. Callen, Kensi, and Eric looked at each other. Callen gave a nod and the other two knew to just use their real names, since they hadn't been undercover. Callen used his alias.

Finally, they were led to a door, and the doctor said, "She's still asleep, I recommend not trying to wake her up. She'll be sleeping a lot, since the body uses sleep as a way to recover. She hasn't woken up since the surgery, so when she does, let one of the nurses know. Any questions?"

They shook their heads quickly, eager to just get in the room already. The doctor opened the door and let them in. Callen naturally took a spot standing protectively in the corner. Kensi and Eric sat on the couch next to Nell's bed. She didn't look much different, there was an IV attached to her hand, and she looked a little pale, but other than that she looked the same. They could only see her face and arms, though.

None of them said anything for at least 20 minutes, until Nell started to stir. She moved her head back and forth a bit, and then scrunched up her face like she was in pain. "Is she awake?" Kensi asked. Eric leaned closer to Nell. "I don't know. Nell?"

Nell opened her eyes a tiny bit, then moaned softly and moved her hands to her stomach, closing her eyes again. "Nell, can you hear me?" Kensi asked "Nell?" Eric said.

"Yeah. Yes, I can hear you. Can you turn the light off? It hurts my head." She said quietly. Callen quickly moved to the light switch and flipped it off. There was still light coming in from the open door. "How do you feel?" he asked.

Nell was taking short, labored breaths. She inhaled sharply "It really hurts." she whispered.

"I'll go let the nurse know she's awake, maybe they can do something about the pain." Callen offered as he stepped out into the hall. Eric gently put his hand on Nell's elbow, and she grabbed his hand. "Okay okay, you're okay, try and take deep breaths." Eric tried to comfort her. The nurse came in with Callen, and she took Nell's vitals, then increased her pain meds. Almost as soon as the nurse left, Nell was asleep again.

For the next two hours, Kensi and Eric played with a deck of cards they found in the drawer next to Nell. Callen finally decided to sit down, but still didn't do anything, he was just thinking. Eric made at least 3 trips to the vending machine and the waiting room to update Hetty and Deeks. Kensi and Eric ran out of card games to play, so they tried to get Callen to join a game of Bullshit, but he declined. After much quiet arguing, Kensi and Eric finally improvised a way to play with only two players.

"Two kings" Eric said, laying the cards face down on the table. Kensi paused for a minute, but before she could put her next cards down, they heard "He's lying."

"Nell, you're awake! Oh, and bullshit, Eric." Kensi said happily.  
"Nell, hey, how do you feel?" Eric asked.  
Nell winced and said "Been better."  
"Do you remember what happened?" Kensi asked.  
"Yeah, we kicked some serious butt. Can I get some more pain meds?"  
"I'll go talk to the doctor." Callen left the room and came back only a few seconds later with the doctor, who checked the monitors, then increased her pain meds again. "Since it's been a while since the surgery, I can give her this stronger medication. If it doesn't knock her out, she might get a little loopy." The doctor gave them a smile and left.

"Feel better?" Kensi asked.  
"Oh yeah. That's some good stuff." Nell replied, and Eric gave a little laugh. "So did you get the files, Eric? Tell me I didn't get stabbed for nothing."  
"I got 'em. Don't worry. You did great. I was able to use the files to track the terrorists' base, and I was able to shut down their entire system, and the police took it from there." Eric reported proudly.  
"Oh. You didn't break the internet again, did you?"  
Eric and Kensi laughed, "No, I didn't." he replied.  
"Good. I like that place."  
"Me too." Eric couldn't help but laugh a little more.  
"You promise?" Nell asked.  
"What?" Eric said, confused.  
"Are those Oreo's?" Nell changed the subject, pointing to the wrapper on the table behind Eric. "Can I have one?"  
"Sorry, the doctor said you can't eat anything right now, but I'll buy you all the Oreo's you want when you recover." Eric said, really wishing he could give her the Oreo's. The package was empty though anyway.  
"You mean, you ate them all?"  
"Sorry, Nell."  
"But…but you mean…you ate them without milk! That's a sin!"  
"What are you talking about, you've had Oreo's without milk before!" Eric defended.  
"Yeah but only because Hetty would have been less than pleased if I had milk in OPS!"  
"You weren't even supposed to have the Oreo's in OPS!"  
"Touché." Nell said, giving Kensi a look. She was well aware of Kensi and Deeks's little thing about saying 'Touché'.  
"Why is there a cut on your face?" Eric asked, concerned, as he reached out to gently touch her face.  
"Why do you talk to your stuffed Wookie every night before you go to bed?" Nell asked with a smirk.  
"H-how did you know that?" Eric said, lowering his voice, even though Kensi and Callen clearly heard, and were trying to hold back their laughs.  
"Because I have super powers." Nell replied.  
"Nell, you don't have super powers." Eric said.  
With a completely straight face, and not breaking eye contact, Nell pushed a book off the table next to her and it hit the floor with a _thud._ "I'm an earthbender."  
Kensi couldn't hold her laugh any longer. Eric had made a lame attempt to catch the book, but he failed.  
Nell snorted "You thought you were going to catch that?"  
"I was close!" Eric defended.  
"Yeah, but close only counts in horseshoes and like…lemonade"  
"Okay now you're just quoting things. Do you need to go back to bed?"

"Nell, I think you need more sleep." Callen said, walking over. As much fun as it was to hear Nell all loopy, she still should get more sleep.

"Hulk smash." Nell said as she punched Eric's arm. Eric recalled their conversation about girls punching guys they like, but then he remembered that she said she didn't. Even so, does a Hulk smash punch really count?

"Yeah, time for you to get some sleep. We're leaving now, so you can rest." Kensi said, even though they weren't really leaving, they were just going to sit outside or in the waiting room, or go get some food or something. They stood up, Eric replaced the book and threw away the Oreo's wrapper, then they left and sat right outside, and sure enough, Nell was asleep in 10 minutes.

_To be continued.._


End file.
